The United States will require bonds of up to $15,000 for some tourist and business visas under a pilot programme launching on August 20, aimed at cracking down on visitors who overstay their visas, Reuters reported on August 4.

Several countries targeted by Trump's travel ban have high visa overstay rates, including Haiti, Myanmar, Yemen, Chad, Eritrea, whilst numerous African countries, including Burundi, Djibouti, and Togo, had high overstay rates according to US Customs and Border Protection data from fiscal year 2023.

The programme gives US consular officers discretion to impose bonds on visitors from countries with high rates of visa overstays, according to a Federal Register notice, with bonds also applicable to people from countries where screening and vetting information is deemed insufficient.

Consular officers will have three bond options for visa applicants: $5,000, $10,000 or $15,000, but will generally be expected to require at least $10,000, with the programme lasting approximately one year.

President Donald Trump has made cracking down on illegal immigration a focus of his presidency, boosting border security resources and arresting people in the US illegally, whilst issuing a travel ban in June that blocks citizens of 19 nations from entering on national security grounds, Reuters noted.

Trump's immigration policies have led some visitors to skip travel to the United States, with transatlantic airfares dropping to pre-COVID-19 pandemic rates in May and travel from Canada and Mexico falling 20% year-over-year.

A similar pilot programme was launched in November 2020 during Trump's first term, but was not fully implemented due to the pandemic-related drop in global travel.

The State Department could not estimate the number of visa applicants who could be affected by the new requirements.